How can CDN grain farmers/Ag sector compete?

[TOM4CWB]

Incognito;

I see this on DTN in today's "Washington Insider" article:

"China is continuing to reform its agricultural sector and its rural governments and widening its program to abolish rural taxes...

Last year, the Chinese government transferred the equivalent of $6.3 billion to localities to replace revenue lost when rural taxes were abolished. Cutting back taxes and fees that were often arbitrarily imposed by local authorities has become a cornerstone policy of the ruling Communist party in their efforts to boost farm income and maintain popular support. In addition to reducing farmers' tax burdens, the government plans to continue to invest heavily in rural infrastructure and environmental projects. Such projects accounted for about one-third of central government expenditures in 2004."

It is obvious that we must reduce our costs to be globally competitive, there are many areas this can be done in the grain sector!

1. Land Taxes

2. Fuel/Heating/Electrical taxes on energy used to support Agriculture; Transportation, Fertiliser used domestically, etc.

3.Property taxes on all grain/Ag infrastructure that supports Agriculture.

4. Income taxes on farmers/Industry; use ITC's to reduce cost and increase efficiencies

5. Capital Gains Taxes eliminated in Agriculture.

6. Taxes on Financial Capital/Restrictions on access to internatinal financing that makes Capital more expensive.


It is obvious the western Canadian farmer MUST be more competitive, especially if we are exempted from subsidies, and stuck with the appreciating CDN$.

How much of our costs are Taxes, 40%?

[TOM4CWB]

WD9;

I see another way we could cut infrastructure costs!

Sheriff Joe Arpaio

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
George Orwell

Arpaio Re-Elected
Needless to say he was re elected again this year. Sheriff Joe Arpaio (in Arizona) who created the tent city jail has meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. He took away their weights. He cut off all but "G" movies. He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects. Then he started chaingangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination.

He took away cable TV, until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails. So he hooked up the cable TV again but only let in the Disney channel and the weather channel. When asked why the Weather channel he replied, so they will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs.

He cut off coffee since it has zero nutritional value. When the inmates complained, he told them, "This isn't the Ritz/Carlton. If you don't like it, don't come back."

He bought Newt Gingrich's lecture series on videotape that he pipes into the jails. When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture series might explain why a lot of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.

More on the Arizona Sheriff:
With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record), the Associated Press reports: About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed-wire-surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts. On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 degrees inside the week before. Many were also swathed in wet, pink towels as sweat collected on their chests and dripped down to their pink socks. "It feels like we are in a furnace," said James Zanzot,an inmate who has
lived in the tents for 1 1/2 years. "It's inhumane."

Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates: It's 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to wear full battle gear, but they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!"

Way to go, Sheriff! Maybe if all prisons were like this one, there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders.

Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves.


Why are farmers paying for education in rural areas, when only a small number even use the services?

[cowman]

Well Tom that is an interesting story! Are you proposing that we do that here?
Sure hope you aren't intending to run the border with a load of grain or something if that is how it is! LOL
Actually forget all about those big tax deals and just go out and grow yourself a prime field of good old marijuana! Haven't you heard we are big exporters to the USA?...of course if you do get caught you might hope for a nice sweet Canadian jail?

[TOM4CWB]

Cowman,

A Simple thing like ITC.

Quebec and the Maritimes get a 10% ITC on equipment today. A lease for instance is reduced by a huge amount because of ITC's in Eastern Canada.

Why exactly don't we have this cost benefit in western Canada?

[wd9]

This is a great topic. Biggest Canadian competition comes from beauracrats in the form of traceability, biosecurity protocols, on farm food safety, environmental plans, mandatory GMO labeling, the PQ's insistance to ban GMOs, bill c317, kyoto, KVD, interprovincial trade barriers, dare I say farm lobbies with singular focus. Internationally we have subisidies of our competitors, lack of legal infrastructure of our other competitors, non parity of tarriffs on the products we grow vs already heavily subsidized and tarriff advantaged, the one way NAFTA, .....

Non parity in tarriffs alone costs producers $50 dollars per acre in canola, probably same in wheat and barley - and that is just the difference in tarriffs. Efficiency on our farms is not the issue. I don't think a single person could post how to farm more efficiently. Where's that blood pressure cuff!

TOM4CWB, your 8 are a good start and we need more.

[kenzie]

Yep I can farm more efficiently all i need to do is join a colony or better still start my own hmmm .
Jake for boss